Kansans split over questions about Melania Trump speech

Some Kansas Republicans dismissed questions Tuesday about whether passages from Melania Trump’s speech to the GOP National Convention were plagiarized, though one said the issue overshadowed her positive message.

Several Kansas delegates said in telephone interviews from the convention in Cleveland that Mrs. Trump gave an excellent speech. They said it softened Donald Trump’s image for voters and showed she would be a strong first lady.

Delegate and State Treasurer Ron Estes, from Wichita, said he doesn’t think the issue is significant, but he called it “unfortunate.”

“You could say the plagiarism piece has kind of overshadowed how good the rest of the speech was,” Estes said. “Obviously, it was a mistake, and I don’t know what the logic was of how they were working on the speech.”

Prominent Kansas Republicans are backing Trump even though Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won the state’s caucuses in March. Cruz captured 24 of the state’s 40 delegates, compared with nine for Trump, six for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and one for Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Kansas party rules require delegates to vote for their candidates until the candidates formally release them.

Mrs. Trump’s speech highlighted the convention’s first day, but the Trump campaign immediately faced questions because two passages were nearly identical to passages in a speech by first lady Michelle Obama to the Democratic convention in 2008.

Estes, a Rubio delegate, said the issue doesn’t have him rethinking his support for Trump as the GOP nominee.

But he said, “You try to talk about the issues that you want to promote, put forward, and then something like this happens, and it kind of distracts from the positive message you want to get out.”

State GOP Chairman Kelly Arnold, also from Wichita, called the questions about Mrs. Trump’s speech a “non-concern” for him. He said there’s “crossover” in political speech when prominent figures are vying for similar positions.

Arnold, a Cruz delegate who’s nevertheless opposing anti-Trump efforts at the convention, said of Mrs. Trump, “She came off as a very, very strong woman.”

And Tim Shallenburger, a Trump delegate from Baxter Springs, called the issue “somewhat bizarre” because Mrs. Trump used “pretty much common language.” Shallenburger is a top aide to Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and a former state treasurer.

“Those are lines that my dad told me and I told my daughter, and I didn’t think Obama had a copyright on ‘Do what you say and say what you do,’” he said. “It’s not like she stole this rocket design and some incredible phrase.”

He added: “I think it’s amazing that the press has to make something out of that, but that’s what they do.”